Tag Archives: Paleo

This is my 7th day on the Paleo Diet. (Thank you, Cateepoo for the inspiration.) It hasn’t been a full week, but I thought I’d provide an update.

So far everything’s been good. Here are the highlights:

I’ve lost 3.5 pounds so far (official weigh-in isn’t until tomorrow, so I’m hoping for a solid four pounds).

As I sit in front of a computer most of the day, I’ve had issues with my legs and ankles being swollen by the end of the day. On Paleo, this has all but disappeared. My husband who has started Paleo with me, has commented he’s had the same experience. Whether this is because of the reduced inflammation or that lower-carb diets have inherent diuretic properties, I’m not sure. It could also be the reduction in processed foods, eliminating a lot of salt from my diet. Whatever the reason, it’s a great improvement in my life.

The best news is I’ve seen a dramatic reduction in the pain and swelling in my joints. My knees, which used to wake me up with screaming pain every three hours every night, haven’t so much as twinged. I can even go up stairs in relative comfort.

Downsides? You have to be a bit creative when eating out. Some of our favorite things to eat out, while relatively healthy, included grains and/or dairy, so we’ve had to find some alternatives. A lot of people have sugar/carb cravings by now, but (knock on wood), that hasn’t been my case as of yet. I will say that late afternoon the other day I was in the company break room refilling my water glass. I turned to leave and was staring straight at the bank of vending machines and all their goodies. I was a bit hungry and the M&Ms looked really appealing.

So, so far so good. I go back to my rheumy in about six weeks. If things continue trending the way they have, hopefully we’ll have good news to report.